Nevertheless, the firm's shares dipped by 15 per cent afterwards, and now the industry is speculating whether this is a last opportunity for Nokia to reclaim market share.

Nokia's senior vice president of smart devices, Jo Harlow, defended the company whilst speaking to The Telegraph, saying: "This is a step in the journey. This characterisation that it is the last step is not reality. These are two devices; they’re not all the devices that we’ll base on Windows Phone 8. This is our strategy and it’s a journey; there’s not one moment in time that defines everything.”

Jo Harlow claimed that the firm was able to improve the overall Windows Phone platform and still provide differentiated products, citing NFC and improved maps as ways in which Nokia had benefited from its close relationship with Microsoft.

She said: “It’s always a decision should this be in the platform or should it be unique to us. It’s always in our interest to grow the platform, and if we have tonnes of differentiations it makes us slower when Microsoft gives us the software to implement.”

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